Maine’s child care industry continues to be in a crisis. Too many parents can’t find quality affordable child care. The legislature made good progress last year when lawmakers on both sides of the aisle supported increasing wage stipends for certain child care providers. However, providers are continuing to sound the alarm that child care programs cannot hire or retain staff — a refrain that is no stranger to the hospitality industry either.

The dual drain that Maine’s child care crisis places on our greater economy cannot be overlooked. When a child care business closes, that sets in motion pulling an entirely other set of workers, those children’s parents, from their professions as well. Without child care, parents cannot go to work or work fulltime. It’s a double gut punch to an already strained workforce. HospitalityMaine’s members, which include restaurant and lodging owners and allied professionals, feel the economic impacts of this reality every day.

According to a ReadyNation report released last May, the lack of just infant-toddler child care, the hardest care to find these days, costs Maine’s economy as estimated $403 million each year in lost productivity, revenue and earnings.

Now, more than ever, policy leaders in Augusta must address this crisis with real-time and permanent fixes. It would be ideal if child care policy was an issue that only required an easy fix so that children could be properly cared for and parents could go to work unworried about where their child will be during the day or after school. Unfortunately, it is not.

There is legislation this session that would greatly benefit the child care industry. The legislature should support a bill proposed by Senate President Troy Jackson, L.D. 2199, that addresses two existing shortcomings child care providers face every day. The first would require the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to reimburse child care providers for subsidies based on children’s enrollment, rather than attendance. This change models how we fund our public schools. We would not dream of paying our teachers a pro-rated amount when children are absent from their classrooms. We should do the same for children in child care. This is a common-sense change that more fairly and consistently compensates providers for the services that they provide.

The second component of L.D. 2199 would create a program within DHHS to provide short-term, one-time emergency financial assistance to child care providers based on demonstrated need. Child care programs, not unlike many businesses in the hospitality industry, operate on slim profit margins. Those margins give little-to-no room to afford an unforeseen expenditure. This emergency fund would provide a buffer for those trying times for which the only viable option could be to go out of business.

The threat of potential closures of any child care facility is unsettling for employers. We’ve seen firsthand the cascading effects that the displacement of children who lose access to reliable child care can cause on the economy. A closure of a child care facility, especially if sudden or unexpected, often means parents are out of the workforce at least temporarily — and in some cases permanently — to care for their child because there is no other available option.

Main Street has no shortage of “Help Wanted” signs. The business community and the state both have incentives to protect our vital child care businesses from potential closure. This Legislature has proven it understands the importance of supporting the child care industry and should continue problem solving these issues through multiple avenues and from multiple vantage points. Supporting the provisions in L.D. 2199 will carry through on the collective commitment to Maine’s child care industry we all share.

We should all agree that child care should be affordable and accessible for all who need it so that parents who want to participate in the workforce aren’t forced to sit out. The child care industry is the work force behind the work force. It’s simple really — for Maine’s hospitality and tourism businesses to succeed, we need a strong and steady workforce in our restaurants and hotels. To accomplish that, we need to ensure the child care workforce has the support it needs, too. The greater economy depends on it.

Nate Cloutier is director of government affairs for Hospitality Maine and a Topsham resident. 

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Gordon L. Weil: Younger generations will pick next president

Next »

Giving Voice: Warm thy neighbor? Yes, you can